Homily at Service in the Park
following the Procession of Faith
Bedford on 30 September 2012
Dear brothers and sisters,
What a wonderful sight to see so many of us gathered here in the park to bear witness to
our Faith, to honour Our Lady of Guadalupe, and with her to praise and glorify her Son,
Our Lord Jesus Christ. How I would love to greet each one of you individually, those of you
from the Bedford area, and those of you from much further afield.
Welcome, again, and welcome to our Christian brothers and sisters, and to our friends of
other faiths and of no faith, and to those who have joined us while strolling through the
park. I would very much like us to offer each other a sign of peace.
We are here on pilgrimage. As a body we have journeyed a mile and a half from St.
Joseph's. It is symbolic of our journey through life from its beginning at our conception and
birth and its end at our death. It is an opportunity to witness to our understanding and
valuing of our life and death, and of the joys and sufferings each of us experiences. Has
our being born, our living and our dying no meaning? Does it come to nothing? To those
questions we say a resounding “no!” For we believe in the God of life eternal who sent his
Son, born of Mary, to be the sacrifice that takes our sins away and leads us to eternal life
in the kingdom of heaven.
That is why we process, to witness to our faith in Jesus Christ and to commit ourselves
afresh to live in his way as members of his Body, the Church. The Church is a sacrament,
a sign and an instrument of communion with God and of the unity of the whole human
race. It is for us in the power of the Holy Spirit to grow in communion with God and to work
together for the unity of all peoples.
The model of that communion is Mary, the mother of Jesus, whom we honour this
weekend under the title of Our Lady of Guadalupe. For those who do not know the story,
Our Lady appeared in Mexico to a poor peasant, Juan Diego, in 1531 and asked that a
church be built there. To convince the sceptical local bishop, Our Lady invited Juan to take
the bishop some roses from the barren hilltop which he wrapped in his cloak. When he
presented the roses to the bishop, there imprinted on the cloak was the image of Our
Lady, pregnant with the Lord, bringing him to the Americas and leading millions of St. Juan
Diego’s countrymen and women to him.
Mary is our model in her response to God's will, in bringing Christ into the world, and in
living her faith practically, visiting Elizabeth, prompting the servants at the wedding feast in
Cana, being near her Son during his Passion and Death, praying with the apostles for the
coming of the Holy Spirit. Mary is our model, not only in responding in faith to God, but
also in living with faith in the community.
What a gifted gathering of God's people we are. As we were reminded in the letter to the
Romans, we form one body in Christ, and as different parts we belong to one another. Our
different gifts are at the service of Christ to help build up the unity of all peoples. Our
witness here is not only to our faith in prayer and devotion, but also to the values that flow
from our faith. Some of those values we have reflected on during this service - the sanctity
of life - the family and the community - the poor and the vulnerable. I am so grateful to
those of you who are involved as individuals and as groups in witnessing to what is of the
essence of the Gospel and essential to human existence, namely, the sacredness and
unique value of every human being from the moment of conception, the place of the family
as the first and vital cell of society and the school of love, and the option for the poor.
That witness must be active, loving, compassionate and supportive. It must not be
destructive or judgemental, but positive and life-giving. With Mary it must be rooted in
humility and in utter dependence on God for God’s grace alone conquers all evil.
Our procession and service open the way for the Year of Faith beginning on Thursday, 11
October. May it be a time to understand our faith better, to celebrate our faith more
devoutly, and to live our faith with real hope.
Our Lady of Guadalupe appeared to St. Juan Diego dressed as an Aztec princess and
spoke to him in his dialect. We now ask her intercession that we may be able to reach out
to those around us in a similar way with great respect to build bridges. Our Lady of
Guadalupe led Juan Diego to her Son. May she lead us and those we meet to her Son
who poured out his life for the forgiveness of our sins so that we may enjoy eternal life now
and in the kingdom of heaven.
Now, as we prepare to adore the Son of Mary in the Eucharist at Benediction, let us ask
Mary to pray with us that this Year of Faith may be fruitful in our hearts and homes, in our
parishes and schools, in our Diocese of Northampton, and throughout the Church. Amen.